Abducted
by Seblainer
Summary: When Charlie goes missing, it's up to Don and Colby to find him. Warning: Contains SLASH, if you squint.


Fandom: Numb3rs  
>Title: Abducted<br>Characters: Don Eppes, Charlie Eppes, Colby Granger, Dwayne Carter  
>Pairing: CharlieColby, if you squint  
>RatingWarnings: R. AU, Death, Homophobia, OOC, Slash, Strong Language, Torture, Violence  
>Summary: When Charlie goes missing, it's up to Don and Colby to find him.<br>A/N: Thanks to anyone who reads and reviews and thanks to Judy for betaing.  
>Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or anything you recognize and I don't claim to. I make no money for writing this story.<br>Words: 7,555 words.

Note: In this story, Dwayne was never arrested for killing the woman who worked for the Chinese consulate, because he didn't kill her. Also, warning, Dwayne is a homophobic prick. He makes rude remarks about Charlie being gay. I don't feel that way, never have and never will. I have no problem with anyone who is gay, so no flames on that account, please. Another thing, text in italics is flashbacks and regular text is current time.

**"****People say hell is endless. They say it's our worst nightmare, the face of our darkness. Whatever it is, however it is, I say hell is empty and all the devils are here."** – excerpt from One Tree Hill 9x01.

*Abducted*

**"People say hell is endless."**

Don's world was quickly falling apart at his feet, his insides torn to shreds like broken glass cutting an already infected sore, and making it bleed without stopping as life slowly left his body. The feeling of helplessness he hid deep inside made him angry and sad all at once and he ached with the need to do something to help find his brother.

His younger brother, Charlie, had been missing for two months with no clues or leads as to where he was. There had been no reports from neighbors of suspicious-looking people hanging around Charlie or his house, days or weeks before his disappearance. The only thing they had to go on wasn't even worth being considered a lead because it was in Charlie's nature to forget about everything around him when he got lost inside his head.

Sure, the front door of Charlie's house had been slightly open when Don and Colby had shown up to check up on him. However, anyone who knew Charlie knew that he could be oblivious to anything outside of his math most times. Other than the door being suspiciously left open, there was no other indication of foul play or any sign that anyone had shown up and made a move against Charlie.

There were no scattered papers on the floor, no marks on the carpet, floor, or walls, which would suggest a struggle had taken place. There was also the fact that nothing looked out of place anywhere in the house. All that suggested was that if someone had shown up, Charlie had known his guest and had let him or her in without any protest. The main thing that bugged Don was that no one knew if Charlie had left on his own or if his guest had abducted him from his home.

Apparently, Don hadn't noticed his brother's absence until two days after it had happened. He had been and still was kicking himself for not noticing that something was going on with Charlie sooner. Some big brother he had turned out to be. Don hadn't even known that his brother had been missing until that chilling afternoon when Colby had brought it to his attention.

He could still remember every single detail of that day with startling clarity, even though it was a day he wished with everything in him that he could forget. As the events from that painful day two months ago flashed in his mind and stayed there, Don knew that he would do anything and everything in his power to get Charlie back. There was nothing Don wouldn't do for Charlie.

His younger brother was all that was left of his family since their mother had died from cancer several years ago, and their father had died from a heart attack the previous year. Don wasn't about to lose another member of his family. He wasn't going to give up on Charlie without a fight, no matter how ugly things got.

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_He had just wrapped up a case of a bank robbery gone wrong and all assumed suspects and witnesses were dead. Don had finally finished the last bit of paperwork on the bank robbery and had leaned back in his chair with closed eyes, as a sigh had left his lips. The sound of approaching feet had made him open his eyes again and he looked up into the worried face of his friend and fellow agent, Colby Granger._

_Don nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Granger, what's up? You look stressed. It's not about the bank robbery, is it? I mean, the case is closed since all witnesses and suspects are dead. All that's left to do is file the paperwork and then we can go home and sleep. I don't know about you, but I could sleep for a week."_

_Colby had rubbed a hand over his face and then he met his friend and Supervisor's eyes. The look in his eyes didn't go unnoticed by Don, who turned his full attention on the younger man who began to speak. "I just got a call from Larry. He said that Charlie hasn't been to CalSci in two days and no one has seen or heard from him. I told Larry that Charlie was probably still working on that project he told us about last week and that was why he wasn't showing his face."_

_Don had straightened up in his chair and in only seconds, he had slipped a hand into his pocket and lifted his cell phone from it. He flipped it open and pressed Speed Dial 1, before he brought the phone to his ear. A few seconds of silence passed and then Don started to speak, as he left a voicemail for his brother._

_"Charlie, it's Don. I wanted to know if you're finished with that project from last week. Also, Larry called Colby and said that he's been trying to get in touch with you for two days. So stop obsessing over your math for five minutes and give the guy a call. Oh, and don't forget to call me as well. I need to know that you haven't passed out somewhere from dehydration and malnourishment. So call me, Charlie, I mean it. Put the chalk down and call me."_

_Don had hung up a few moments later, and he turned to face Colby who had been watching him the entire time he was on the phone. "I'm sure it's no big deal, Granger. I'll go and check on Charlie right now if you really think something has happened." Don had gotten to his feet and grabbed his jacket off his desk. He checked the gun at his hip and then turned to leave._

_As he turned and headed out the door, Don paused in the doorway and said, "Granger, why don't you tag along so you can see for yourself that Charlie's okay?" Colby hadn't wasted any time after Don spoke. He had immediately grabbed his own jacket and service weapon and then he had followed the other man out the bullpen and to the elevators._

_Before long they had gotten into Don's SUV, left their offices and were pulling up in front of Charlie's house. The house that Charlie had bought from their father before his death and now lived in, since he couldn't bear to give up his childhood home for anyone or anything. Don and Colby exited Don's SUV and approached the house silently._

_They didn't want to alarm Charlie if he was okay, and had just gotten lost inside his own world in his head, as he worked on his math. However, the only sign that someone was there or had been there in the first place was the front door, which was open. Don and Colby had immediately drawn their service weapons as they approached it._

_Don had pushed open the door and immediately swung his gun out in front of him, prepared to shoot at the first sign of motion. When both men were sure that the living room was at least free of intruders, they split up and searched the house for Charlie. Don headed for the stairs to check the bedrooms and bathroom, and Colby headed for the garage, where Charlie was mostly likely to be._

_It wasn't long before the two men met up in the living room again and were both disappointed at not finding a single clue as to where Charlie was. Both men put away their service weapons and then Don collapsed onto the couch as he wondered where his younger brother was. Sure, Charlie was an adult and he could do what he wanted. The thing was, ever since their father had died, the two of them usually let the other know when they had to leave town or if they just weren't going to be home for a few days._

_As Don spared another glance around the living room, he took in the sight of Colby's worried face and the devastation in the younger man's eyes and wondered if he was missing something. Sure, Don's team was friends with Charlie, to an extent. The only thing was, Don was sure that the look he saw in Colby's eyes wasn't just worry for a friend, but worry for someone who meant much more than that._

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Charlie didn't know how long he had been imprisoned in the small, dark room he was being kept in. He had lost count of how many times his captor had burned, cut or beat him. All he knew was that every day that passed it was less likely he would emerge from his current situation alive. The only thing that kept Charlie going was the thought that his brother was going crazy looking for him and that Colby was looking for him as well.

Before Charlie had been abducted, he and Colby had started spending time together. Their relationship had just started, and now there was a chance that he would never see Colby again. There was a chance that Don and Colby would never know just how much they meant to him. Charlie shook his head to clear those thoughts away, not wanting to go down that road. He had every faith that Don and Colby would find him.

The only problem was what would be left of him when they found him? Charlie knew that he shouldn't give up trying to get away from his captor, that he should fight with everything inside of him to escape, but without knowing how much longer he was going to be imprisoned, it took away his strength and will to fight. He could have been gone for days or even weeks and he would never know.

The only reason he even knew when a day had passed was when his captor would come inside the room and claim that he should eat breakfast, which usually consisted of two pieces of bread and a glass of water. It was barely enough to feed a child, much less a grown man in his thirties, but Charlie never complained. He immediately accepted the bread and water, latching onto the water when his captor tilted the cup toward his mouth, and sipped it slowly and carefully as if it would vanish any second.

When Charlie finished the glass of water, he gasped in pain when his captor set down the cup and then slammed his head roughly against the wall, followed by a punch in the stomach for good measure. The chains that held Charlie to the structure beam in the middle of the room, tightened across his body and he groaned again. The pain was so bad that he never wanted to move again.

As his surroundings began to blur, Charlie had to fight the urge to vomit as his captor took off the ski mask he usually wore. It was a surprise when he found himself face to face with a bruised and battered Dwayne Carter, the man who had once been Colby's best friend from when they had both been in the military in Afghanistan. Charlie swallowed as he tried to hide the fear he felt as Dwayne stared at him with a smile on his face.

"Good morning, Professor. I thought we'd start the day off by getting to know each other even better than we have been, and the best way to get to know someone is to know how they sound when they're in pain." Charlie forced down the bile that rose again in this throat at Dwayne's words. Moments later, a soundless scream left his bloody lips when he heard the click of Dwayne's cigarette lighter, and then felt the heat from the fire burning his left leg. It brought back memories of his first day of captivity.

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_Charlie had been pacing the length of the garage as he worked on the lesson plans for his class the next day. He had his headphones on, with music blaring through the small earpieces he wore. As he paced, Charlie couldn't help but smile as he thought of his classes. Teaching had been greater than he had ever expected and it helped that he taught his favorite thing in the world, math._

_There was nothing more gratifying for Charlie as a teacher, than when a student who had been having trouble in his class started to understand, and even enjoy the work they were doing. He chuckled as he tried to imagine explaining that to Don and Colby. His brother would listen to what he said, but then would snort in disbelief at finding math fun, and then look bored and laugh._

_Colby, on the other hand, would pretend to look interested, but there would always be this glaze in his eyes and Charlie would laugh. He knew the other man would have checked out during all the math talk, he always did. As those thoughts swirled in his mind, he turned and headed for the house. As he stepped into the living room and headed for the kitchen to get a drink, Charlie heard the unmistakable sound of a door opening and before he could react, an arm curled around his neck and a cloth was shoved over his mouth._

_Charlie struggled for several moments, as he tried to free himself from his captor, though the act was useless. He sighed in resignation and then his body went limp as the arms that held him, tightened around his body. The last thing he remembered was feeling his body carried out of the garage, placed on the floor of a van before it started up, and pulled away from his house. After that, all he knew was darkness for a while._

_The next time Charlie regained consciousness, he found himself chained to a structure beam in the middle of a dark room. His body hurt from being in its current position for however long he had been unconscious. As he struggled against the chains that held him, Charlie suddenly became aware that he wasn't alone. He looked up and stared as hard as he could into the darkness, at the man who sat no more than fifteen feet away from him._

_"Who are you?" Charlie asked, as the man got to his feet and walked toward him. He flinched as the stranger stood in front of him, and suddenly Charlie screamed when he felt something cutting into his skin. He screamed again, when the piece of cut skin suddenly burned as his captor pulled out a lighter and jabbed him in the leg with it. Charlie gagged and then threw up on the floor, as the smell of his burnt flesh filled the room and his nose._

_Several minutes later, he no longer felt the lighter against his leg as the man stepped forward, ski mask and all, and locked gazes with him. "I'm the one who's going to be there to pick up the pieces when they find your body. I'm the one your brother and boyfriend are going to confide in when your body is discovered by someone Colby cares about and trusts more than anyone in the world, including you."_

_Hatred filled the man's eyes and moments later Charlie tried to scream as the man began to cut and burn him once again. In response to his attempts to scream, the man punched Charlie in the face and stomach multiple times. When the man quit punching him and resumed cutting him, it was only seconds before the lighter's fire touched his skin again. The pain ended up becoming so much that Charlie was thankful when his body could take it no longer and he gratefully passed out._

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**"****They say it's our worst nightmare, the face of our darkness."**

Don wasn't doing well and hadn't been since he and Colby had returned from trying to find Charlie at his house that day two months ago. He and Colby constantly called Amita, Larry and everyone else that Charlie knew, trying to find out where the younger man had gone or if anyone had heard from him. No one could tell them anything about where Charlie could be; no one had heard from him and no one knew of any plans for the man to suddenly leave town.

There were no consulting gigs scheduled, no book signings coming up and no visits to friends in other states planned, at least not that Don and Colby could find. Frustration at not being able to get in touch with Charlie had given way to fear. Colby had spoken to Don and then gone ahead and called the LAPD, given them a description of Charlie and had asked them to keep an eye out for any men who matched Charlie's description.

There was always the bone chilling chance that whatever had happened to Charlie, he could end up hurt or in a morgue. Colby couldn't help it when he shuddered at the mental image he had of getting a call from the LAPD to identify a body and finding Charlie lying dead on a concrete slab in one of Los Angeles morgues. The thought alone was enough to make Colby rise from his chair and stumble to his feet as he bolted for the men's restroom, leaving Don stunned and worried at his desk.

The sound of the men's room door opening several minutes later caught Colby's attention, and as his stomach finally quit rebelling, he breathed slowly for a few seconds and then blindly reached for a towel. He was thankful when a towel and toothbrush were placed in his open hand seconds later and looked up to find Don studying him with the same worried expression he had worn in the bullpen.

Don helped Colby to his feet and the younger man immediately headed for the sink to rinse the horrible taste out of his mouth and brush his teeth. As Colby brushed his teeth, his eyes met and held Don's in the mirror and he knew that they were going to have a lot to talk about when they found Charlie, no matter what shape he was in when they found him.

When Colby finished, he threw the towel and toothbrush into the trash, with a nod of thanks in Don's direction. As the two of them left the men's room and returned to the bullpen and their desks, Don said, "Is there something you want to tell me? Did they find Charlie, is he dead?" The words flew out of Don's mouth before he could stop them, but fear for his brother made him not care that he had no brain-to-mouth filter right now.

Colby shook his head as he got up and moved over to take a seat near Don at his desk. The two of them sat in silence for a moment and then Colby spoke. "I haven't gotten any calls since I called the LAPD and asked them to keep a look out for Charlie. The reason that I got sick was that I keep thinking the worst. I can't stop imagining getting a call from the LAPD and having to identify Charlie's body at the morgue."

Colby took a few deep breaths and then continued. "I wasn't going to tell you that at first. I was afraid that you would react like you did when my friend, Dwayne came to visit two months ago and he made that crack about Charlie. You looked ready to kill him and probably would have if I hadn't stepped in and stopped you. I wasn't going to let you turn into someone you couldn't recognize, someone you would end up hating because you had crossed a line and couldn't go back."

Colby paused as he remembered having to stop Don from nearly killing Dwayne; how he had had to keep him from turning into someone who would hate himself for killing an innocent man. Even though he had secretly agreed that Don should have beat the shit out of Dwayne for how the man had been talking about Charlie, Colby also knew that watching Don beat the shit out of Dwayne wouldn't bring Charlie back and it would only make him and Don feel better for a short while.

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_Things had been crazy since Charlie had disappeared. Don was constantly going back and forth between being worried about Charlie and being on the warpath with anyone who so much as looked at him funny. More than once Colby had been cursed out or fired, though he knew Don hadn't meant it. He had also been threatened with death and even castration by his supervisor, for daring to step forward to try and calm him down._

_The worst thing had been when Colby's friend, Dwayne, had strolled into the bullpen as his visitor's pass hung loosely from a sleeve of his shirt while he had approached Colby's desk. Don hadn't been in the mood to see anyone extra in the office and so Dwayne's timing couldn't have been worse. It hadn't helped when Dwayne had taken a seat on top of Colby's desk, as he completely ignored the case files that sat on it._

_Colby had seen the flicker of irritation in Don's eyes and he had immediately told Dwayne to get off his desk so that he could remove the now crumpled case files that were on it and shove them into the single drawer in his desk. Dwayne had moved off the desk and from there had made one of the biggest mistakes of his life when he began to insult Charlie in front of Colby, Don and everyone in the building._

_"So, where's that geek you and your boss usually have helping you solve cases? Did he finally realize that he was wasting his time, __trying to pretend to be a real man when there was nothing manly about him? I mean, seriously, why do they even let that fag hang around here? He doesn't even look strong enough to pick up a box of stationery supplies, much less be able to handle being in the field to get information to help on your cases. I mean shit, Granger, is he that good in bed?"_

_Before Colby had been able to reply, Don had bolted from his desk and slammed Dwayne harshly against the wall as he began to beat the crap out of the man. It had taken Colby a minute to pull himself together, but by the time he was able to pull Don away, Dwayne was cursing Don out as he sat crumpled on the floor. When Dwayne made a move to get up, every single person in the building was pointing his or her service weapon at him, including Don and Colby._

_When security had escorted Dwayne out of the building, all of the remaining people in the building had put their service weapons away and had gone back to their business as Don headed back to his desk with a sigh. He had flopped down into his chair and scrubbed his hands over his face. He had attacked a visitor and almost killed a man, a civilian no less. The Assistant Director was probably going __to fire his ass, but Don couldn't find it in himself to care at the moment. He was too worried about Charlie to worry about anything else._

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Charlie must have passed out again, because when he opened his eyes and looked around, Dwayne was nowhere in sight. He sighed softly and looked down at his legs. The pants on his legs bore black holes all over them, where Dwayne had burned him through the pants. Every part of Charlie's body ached, and he wondered how much more abuse his body could take before it shut down.

He didn't want to give up hope of Don and Colby finding him, but each second that he remained in Dwayne's grasp, was a second closer he got to death. Even though Charlie missed both of his parents, he wasn't so sure that he was ready to see them yet. Another thing, he couldn't leave Don behind. Don was his big brother, the main person Charlie had always looked up to and respected and always would, even though he wasn't sure that his brother felt the same way.

Charlie gathered up the little bit of strength he had left, and began to slowly and painfully try to work his hands free from the chains. If help didn't show up soon, he would die, and that was something he decided right there and then, wasn't going to happen. Charlie wasn't going to go down without a fight. He may not look like much and he was nowhere near as skilled in hand-to-hand combat as Dwayne was, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying to break free.

It wasn't going to stop him from trying to get out of the hell he found himself in. It didn't matter that Charlie could remember everything that had happened to him the previous times he had tried to escape. It hadn't stopped him then and it sure as hell wasn't going to stop him now. As he strained with all his might against the chains that pinned him to the structure beam, he was surprised when a small piece of the chain broke and fell with a crash to the floor.

Charlie immediately quit struggling against the chains and tried to see if Dwayne was standing at the door, waiting to attack him. When there was no movement in the room for several minutes, and no noise came from near the door, Charlie started to struggle against the chains again. He struggled with his hands and arms and was rewarded for his troubles with another piece of chain breaking free and a sharp pain in his arms, which he ignored.

There was no time to time to worry about pain, the only thing that mattered was getting his legs free and getting the hell out of the room and house he was trapped in before Dwayne came back. However, just because Charlie knew he needed to hurry to get the hell away from his prison, it didn't stop him from thinking about the worst time he had tried to escape. As long as he lived, he would never forget the day that Dwayne had branded a 'D' into his right arm, as he tried to claim him.

Hell, the brand was inflamed and hurt like nothing Charlie had ever felt before. It hurt more than when Dwayne had carved his entire first name into Charlie's hip, practically claiming ownership of him immediately. The memory of that day made Charlie gag and he had to force himself not to throw up again, because getting sick sapped too much of his strength. Just because he didn't get sick, that didn't stop him from thinking of that horrible day and how painful it was.

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_It had felt like days since his captor had entered the room and part of Charlie wondered if the man was going to leave him to die. He was still pinned to the structure beam, similar to a witch burned alive at the stake. The only thing missing was the fire and protests from religious fanatics. Although, if Charlie's captor had his way, the fire wouldn't be long in coming, he was sure. A shudder went through his body and he forced down the scream that tried to escape his lips._

_He couldn't afford to lose his head. This was the time when he should be trying to think of calculations and equations that could help him escape. The problem was that he couldn't get his mind to focus on the math for once, and that scared Charlie more than he would ever admit to anyone. Math had always been his escape, his safeguard from the real world. Now however, right when he needed it the most, the only thing he could think of was how Don and Colby would react when asked to go to the morgue to identify his body._

_Charlie was distracted from his thoughts when the door to the room opened and his captor walked in. Through the little bit of light that shone from the door, he could see that it was day. His stomach began to flip, when he noticed the knife and what looked like a branding iron, that the other man carried. Charlie wondered if the man had finally gotten tired of dealing with him and was going to kill him and __put him out of his misery. Unfortunately, it turned out to be worse than he ever imagined._

_His captor approached him slowly with the branding iron and knife plainly visible, and Charlie tried to swallow, although his throat was dry because of fear. When the man stood before him, he tried to make it seem as if he wasn't terrified of what would happen, but it was no use as the man took the blade and rested it against Charlie's face. Charlie froze. Any sudden movement, and the knife would slice right through his face or he might end up with the knife in his eye._

_He forced himself to be still, even though he was panicking inside at having his captor so close. He could smell the other man's breath which reeked of alcohol, and once again had to fight the urge to gag at the terrible smell. Charlie focused on his captor as the man __began to chuckle, and then he couldn't help but flinch as he watched the man set the knife on the chair and turn his attention to the branding iron. He watched as his captor lifted the branding iron and pointed it in his direction._

_Charlie swallowed and waited to see what was going to happen next. He didn't have to wait long as the man turned and walked back toward the door. The man opened the door, left it propped open behind him and Charlie was able to see him walk over to a large stove. __It was only seconds before he saw the man turn the stove on and rest the branding iron over the flame. His captor stood at the stove __for thirty seconds, which Charlie knew because he had kept count, and then the man shut the stove off and walked back into the room._

_He walked over to Charlie and immediately pressed the branding iron into his captive's right arm. A blood-curdling scream tore through the house as soon as the brand reached its destination and Charlie realized that the sound had come from him. When he looked down __at his arm and saw the 'D' that was branded into his skin, his face immediately turned green and if anything would have been left in his stomach, it would have made an appearance._

_As Charlie tried to breathe through the pain in his arm, he was relieved when the man walked over to the chair in the middle of the room and set the branding iron on it. His relief was short lived however, when his captor picked up the knife and walked over to him once more. Charlie's eyes widened when the man reached for his hip, then slipped part of his pants and boxers down and began to dig the knife into the skin there. He tried to struggle against the chains that held him, as tears fell from his eyes and ran down his face._

_Charlie was surprised to find that the man wasn't just digging the knife into his skin, but was actually carving a word into it. No, not a word; the man was carving a name into his hip. A little while later when his captor had finished, the man stepped back and admired __his handiwork. As blood dripped down his hip, Charlie struggled to read the name carved into his skin: Dwayne. Who was Dwayne __and why had his captor carved it into his skin? What had his captor said about Colby and Don? Did the man know them? Why did __the name Dwayne seem familiar to him?_

_Moments later Charlie found that it didn't matter, because the pain was so bad that he felt his vision going dim. He tried one last time __to struggle against the chains that held him, but it was no use. They bound him too tightly. The last thing that Charlie took with him __into the darkness was the thought that he hoped he was going to die soon, and Don and Colby would be able to stop worrying __about him. He was sure that his captor would put his body somewhere that was easy to locate and Charlie knew they would find __him._

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**"****Whatever it is, however it is, I say hell is empty and all the devils are here."**

Don and Colby had been checking out anyone and everyone who knew Charlie, even if they were just a passing acquaintance. Two months had turned into three and the few leads they had come across hadn't turned up anything but another dead end. Frustration and tension were waging a war inside both men who knew that they were reaching their breaking point. If Charlie, his body, or evidence to where he was didn't surface soon, Don and Colby knew that they would go crazy.

As the two men sat at their desks going over and over the timeframe of Charlie's disappearance, a thought suddenly struck Colby. It wasn't one he wanted to think about, but the timing was too perfect and with what had gone down, it made perfect sense. Colby got to his feet and walked over to his Supervisor and friend. "Don, I think Charlie was abducted from his house and I have an idea of who might have taken him."

Without bothering to spare a glance around the office, Don got to his feet and motioned for Colby to follow him. The two men headed for the elevators and then for Don's SUV. As they sat down inside the SUV and closed the doors Don said, "Okay, tell me who you think might have abducted Charlie and why. I'll take anything at this point, I just want to find him and make sure that he's okay."

Colby cleared his throat, sighed and said, "I think that Dwayne might have been the one who abducted Charlie. I've been thinking about it for the last two hours and it makes sense to me. He's jealous of how close Charlie and I are getting; he put down Charlie and made insinuations that you and I would both be better off without Charlie in our lives. He also said that we would better off without him trying to help us with cases. It also didn't help that Dwayne and I had a thing once, a long time ago."

After he spoke, Colby flipped open his phone and motioned for Don to start driving. "Let's go to my apartment. I want to check this out before we do anything else." It wasn't long before the two of them pulled up in front of Colby's apartment and were heading up the stairs. Colby unlocked his apartment and headed straight for his laptop. He turned it on and waited for the screen to come up. Colby looked up at Don and saw that the other man looked as terrible as he did.

Moments later, Colby clicked on the internet icon and pulled up the website so that he could type in the company of Dwayne's cell phone provider. It didn't take long to pull up the website and it took even less time to type in Dwayne's cell phone number and get a location of where Dwayne, or at least his cell phone, was currently located. Colby jotted down the information on a notepad he always kept near the laptop, and then tore off the paper and headed for the door. He let Don pass him as the other man walked out of the apartment and Colby closed and locked the door behind him.

Now that they were finally getting somewhere, neither man wanted to waste any time. They both checked the state of their service weapons and made sure their guns were loaded and ready to go. Don drove once more, as Colby read the directions that he had jotted down. Thirty minutes passed and then the two men found themselves pulling up near an old house that looked like it had seen better days.

Don silenced the engine and the two men slipped from the SUV, being careful to remain undetected. There was about two hundred feet between the house and Don's SUV. He and Colby had to hope that Dwayne was too busy or asleep to have heard the SUV pull up. They stayed low to the ground, as they made their way across the space between the SUV and the house. However, a sudden scream sounded and Don froze for a second, as he recognized the sound of Charlie in pain.

Unable to stop himself from reacting to his younger brother's scream, Don immediately kicked open the front door of the house and pointed his gun at Dwayne who had frozen in the doorway of what looked like a bedroom. Don kept his gun trained on Dwayne and said "Freeze, FBI! Turn to face me and put your hands in the air!" He felt Colby right next to him and knew that his friend was having trouble trying to get past his shock at how badly Dwayne, the man who had been his best friend, had betrayed him.

However, when Dwayne tried to take advantage of Colby's shock and Don's moment of being distracted, Don immediately lifted his weapon a couple of inches and fired. The bullet hit its mark and Dwayne went down. Even though Dwayne was dead, Don was surprised when he couldn't seem to stop firing his weapon and when Colby did the same. After several minutes though, sense finally prevailed and Don motioned for Colby to quit firing. He felt bad enough that he had let his anger and hatred at Dwayne get the better of him and he and Colby had killed the man instead of arresting him.

Don immediately bolted across the room to where Dwayne had gone down and yelled over his shoulder, "Colby, go check on Charlie and call for an ambulance!" Colby immediately lowered his weapon but kept a tight grip on it as he passed Don and Dwayne in the center of the room. He walked past the two men and then stepped into the bedroom. He immediately flipped on the light, and found himself bolting across the room as his eyes landed on the sight of Charlie, chained to a support beam.

Colby had to fight down the urge to gag as he took in as many of Charlie's injuries as he could see. There were cuts, burns and bruises, and then Colby did start to gag, when he saw the 'D' branded on Charlie's arm. He saw red at the sight of Charlie's bloody hip, when he lowered his pants a few inches and saw Dwayne's name carved into Charlie's flesh. As soon as Colby saw that, he immediately called for an ambulance and back up from the LAPD.

He let them know where they were, that they had found Charlie, and currently had the man responsible for his abduction and needed assistance ASAP. After he spoke, Colby flipped his phone shut and shoved it into his pocket. He turned back to Charlie and began to unwind the chains that held the younger man to the support beam. As Colby got the last chain unwound, he immediately got ready to catch Charlie. As the last chain hit the ground, Charlie fell from the wall and into Colby's waiting arms.

It wasn't long before the LAPD and an ambulance showed up. Don gave the word for the LAPD officers to keep an eye on Dwayne, not that it mattered since the man was dead, but it was for his own piece of mind. After that, Don bolted inside the room in time to see Colby slowly and carefully lowering Charlie to the ground. He tried to stay out of the way, as he watched the paramedics enter the room with a backboard and carefully place Charlie on it. The sight of his brother's various injuries made Don wonder if the younger man was ever going to be okay.

However, as he caught sight of Colby who stood with the paramedics as Charlie was loaded into the ambulance, Don knew that eventually things were going to be okay. It would take a while for Charlie to heal, mentally and physically but there was time, and Charlie would have his brother and his boyfriend by his side and with such a good support system, there was no way that things  
>wouldn't improve for him.<p>

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Don paced the length of the hospital waiting room. Charlie had arrived by ambulance hours ago and was currently in surgery. The doctors were trying to treat Charlie's burns and cuts, and his other injuries as well. It was difficult though, because many of the injuries were infected and they needed to be cleaned carefully. Don looked over at Colby, who sat in a chair in the waiting room. The man was so exhausted and worried about Charlie that he couldn't even get up to pace beside his friend and Supervisor, and that's when Don knew how much Colby cared for his brother.

It would take some time to get used to the idea of Charlie and Colby as a couple. Not to say that he was against Charlie and Colby being together and being happy, because he wasn't. Don was just surprised that the two men had gotten to know each other well enough to care about each other in a romantic sense. Don knew Charlie. He knew that his brother retreated into his own little world when the real world got to be too much for him to handle.

He also knew that Colby was good at keeping his emotions buried. Don wondered how the two men managed to get along and if Charlie had tried to get Colby to talk about his thoughts and feelings. He knew that if anyone could get through to Colby and get past all the walls the man put up, it would be Charlie. There was just something sweet and innocent about Charlie that made anyone who knew the man, want to break down and share.

Well, almost anyone, Don had been lucky enough to grow up with Charlie so he was immune to most of his brother's charm and tricks. He shook his thoughts away as a doctor entered the waiting room and called for the family of Charles Eppes. Don and Colby immediately headed for the doctor and after giving the okay for the doctor to share Charlie's condition in front of Colby, the doctor began to explain that Charlie's surgeries were over and that everything had gone as planned. The doctor let the two men know that Charlie was in the process of being moved to a room and that they could see him in an hour.

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An hour passed and before long, Don and Colby got permission to enter Charlie's room. The doctor warned them that Charlie was not to get worked up, and with a nod of understanding, the two men headed for Charlie's room. As they walked down the hallway, Don told Colby to go on ahead. Colby stopped walking and turned to face his friend and Supervisor. "Don, what's going on?" There was concern in Colby's voice and Don forced a small smile on his face, though it was tired.

"There's nothing to worry about, Colby. Dwayne's dead and Charlie's going to be okay, that's what matters." When Colby continued to stand there with a concerned expression on his face, Don sighed and then realized that he should explain his actions. "I figured you and Charlie would want some time alone, as a couple. I figured you would want to make sure that he's okay. I'm fine with it and can wait to see him until after you have."

Colby shook his head and turned to walk into Charlie's room, as he motioned over his shoulder for Don to come in anyway. When Don entered the room and saw Colby holding onto Charlie's hands, everything seemed to click into place at once. Colby loved Charlie for who he was, mistakes and all, and that was something Don had wanted for his brother all their lives. To know that there was someone out there who cared as much as he did about Charlie, was just what he needed.

So with a small smile in Charlie's direction when his brother looked up and gave him a loopy smile, Don took a seat in the chair across from Colby and on the other side of Charlie's bed. Don felt himself relax in the chair and before he knew it, his eyes drifted shut and the world fell away. Charlie was loved and safe and that was all that mattered to Don.

The end.


End file.
